Tuesday 29 July 2014

All Bran 5 Day Challenge


I have recently been taking part in the Real Mums of All Bran 5 day challenge. Like most people my age I remember All Bran both looking and tasting like sticks, so when my boxes arrived I was pleased to see that All Bran doesn't look a bit like it used to and when I tried the different flavours I was pleasantly surprised because they all tasted really nice. 

The three boxes we received were Chocolate Wheats, Red Berry Crunch and Golden Crunch.


I am not normally a fan of chocolate cereals as they can be too sweet but the Chocolate Wheats were really nice. As well as eating them for breakfast I took them to work to eat as a mid afternoon snack.


The Red Berry Crunch was very filling and the pieces of strawberry added flavour to the cereal. I normally eat Special K Red Berries for breakfast but I found this cereal kept me fuller for longer than Special K does so I will be switching to this cereal in future.




Mark took the box of Golden Crunch to work so I wasn't able to take a photograph of the cereal! He enjoyed it but did comment that it went soggy too quickly. 


The real question I am sure you all want to know is, did I see any improvement in my tummy whist I was taking part in the 5 day challenge?

Prior to the challenge I was finding that by the end of the day my stomach was quite bloated. I found that by taking part in the challenge and eating All Bran, which effectively was increasing my fibre intake, I did notice a difference and found that after only a couple of days my stomach was feeling much better and wasn't getting as bloated by the end of the day.

I would certainly recommend All Bran and now these boxes are almost finished I will be adding them to my shopping basket so I can keep my tummy feeling great.



This post is an entry for the Real Mums of All-Bran Linky Challenge sponsored by Kelloggs

Haribo Surprise


Mark ordered some hybrid tyres for Luke's bike from Wiggle and was thrilled when he found a bag of Haribo in the box! It was such a simple idea but it made us all smile.


Sunday 27 July 2014

Flying Ring Golf Review


Normally the minute school finishes you can guarantee that the weather will change and become cold and wet! This year must be the first time this hasn't happened and for once we have had beautiful sunshine all week. The boys have spent lots of time in the garden playing on the water slide, having water pistol fights with their cousins and playing Flying Ring Golf which 
what2buy4kids recently sent us to review.

The game is very simple, there are nine flags that you push into the ground and 3 rings, which you throw like a Frisbee and try to get them over the flags. 




You can put the flags in whatever pattern you like, Luke enjoyed spreading them around the garden in a completely random pattern but you could also put them in a more organised layout. 




We played two different games with them, the first one we put the flags out in a random order and then stood at the edge of the grass and threw the three rings. If a ring landed over a flag we added up the number on the flag and the winner was the person with the most points.



It was quite tricky getting a ring to land over a flag but that added to the fun and if you did manage to score there was plenty of cheering. 





The other game we played was similar to golf. We put the flags out in number order and we had to get the rings on each of the numbers in turn. We had the rings reasonably close together but you could spread them out more to make the game harder for older children.


The big advantage to this game is it is lightweight and easy to take with you on outings. It would be fun to play it on the beach or it can be packed in the car and taken on a picnic. It is suitable for all ages and can be made as easy or hard as you want. The game is also very versatile, when the children get fed up of playing flying ring golf they can just use the rings like a Frisbee and play catch or see who can throw it the furthest!

We have really enjoyed playing flying ring golf and can see we will have hours of fun with it, both in the garden and on the beach this summer.

At £7.99 for the set it is excellent value and will last for years.




Disclaimer - I received the flying ring golf set for the purpose of the review but all words, opinions and photos are our own.

Bike ride to Dunsop Bridge

Today we went on a bike ride to Dunsop Bridge. We had a mix of weather, it started off a little cooler than it has been for the last few days but this made the ride much more pleasant. Once we got going the sun came out and it turned into a lovely day. The ride was 31 miles long and although it was hilly we all had a good time. 


Once we reached Dunsop Bridge we stopped for a well deserved ice cream, which Luke managed to get all over his face!


After a spot of bike maintenance we set off home, we went a slightly different way back which included a huge hill but at least once we got to the top we had a nice ride down. 








Wednesday 23 July 2014

Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Mascara Review


When I ask friends what they look for in a mascara I usually find that I get a variety of responses. Some look for volume, others lengthening and everyone wants a mascara that has staying power and is a good price too. I was recently sent a new Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Mascara to try and now I have used it for a couple of weeks I can honestly say it ticks all these boxes.

So what is so special about it? Well, the Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Mascara has a new type of brush which has been inspired by professional round hairbrushes. It cleverly alternates bristles fitted with small wraparound spheres with straight bristles which means the first type of bristle perfectly envelopes the whole lash to coat it and the straight bristles define each individual lash without clumping.


The mascara was really easy to apply and was a good intense black colour. I'm not really sure about the 1 second part of the name as I needed a couple of coats to get the right look and I certainly couldn't apply in in 1 second but that is just a minor criticism of the name, not the product. The brush was just the right size and applied the mascara evenly on my lashes.




Bourjois claim that it lasts 16 hours, I generally wear it for 12 to 14 hours and it still looks as good in the evening as it did earlier in the day. The waterproof version has 24 hour hold so perfect for those visiting festivals this summer.

Despite the staying power I found it was easy to remove with my normal eye make up remover.



It is priced at £9.99 and is available from Boots and Superdrug.




Disclaimer - I received a Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Mascara for the purpose of this review but all opinions are my own.

Saturday 12 July 2014

Hotel Chocolat - The Sleekster Fruity Selection



Whenever I open a box of chocolates I always eat the fruit flavoured ones first as they are my absolute favourite chocolates. When I was asked if I would like to try some chocolates from Hotel Chocolat's summer selection it didn't take me long to decide on a box once I spotted The Sleekster Fruity Selection as it is a whole box purely dedicated to fruity chocolates. 

The Sleekster Fruity Selection has 10 different fruity chocolates and in my opinion is the best Hotel Chocolat selection they have ever made. The chocolates not only taste amazing they look amazing too. Hotel Chocolat really make an effort to make their chocolates look just as good as they taste with lots of different shapes and coloured chocolate which makes for a really eye-catching box. With such an interesting range of chocolates it was very hard to know which one to start with so I ended up working my way along the top row and trying all the different flavours one by one. 



There are 28 chocolates in the box and every single chocolate is bursting with flavour. I was really spoilt for choice with the fruity selection which includes the following chocolates.

Cherry Deluxe
Rhubarb & Ginger Cheesecake
Apple Cider Truffle
Blueberry Truffle
Tipsy Mandarin
Strawberry Truffle
Coconut Bombe
Blackcurrant Bombe
Sour Cherry Truffle
Lemon Truffle

Whilst I enjoyed all the chocolates my favourites were the tipsy mandarin and the blackcurrant bombe. The combination of dark chocolate and tangy fruit really hits the spot and the flavours work together to give a taste explosion in your mouth.



If you are like me and need to know what flavour the chocolate you are eating is you will find that the paper sleeve that is around the box contains the chocolate menu. This shows a picture of each chocolate along with a description and a handy pictorial guide indicating which chocolates contain alcohol. Mark can;t understand why I look at the menu first, he just picks a chocolate from the box and eats it.


If I have whetted your appetite for tasty chocolates you can buy them from Hotel Chocolat stores or from their online shop. The chocolates cost £24 for a box and are the perfect summer treat.






Disclosure - I received a box of chocolates from Hotel Chocolat for the purpose of this review however all words and opinions are my own. 

Friday 4 July 2014

County Cub Camp


Two weekends ago we went to County Cub Camp at Waddecar. This event is held every two years and last time it rained constantly the whole weekend. The Cubs enjoyed it but it is so much harder running a camp when it is so wet. This time we couldn't have had better weather, the sun shone the whole weekend and everyone had a fantastic time.

There were lots of great activities for the Cubs to try, one district had Christmas as a theme and the Cubs had to pull sledges across a soapy sheet of visqueen and collect jigsaw pieces. The team that finished their jigsaw first were the winners.


There were paddling pools full of jelly where you had to find letters to spell out words.


Luke really enjoyed trampolining


The whole weekend was filmed with a little gadget that flew overhead and videoed the event, the Cubs were fascinated with it and always waved when they saw it.


Everyone really enjoyed the camp and went home tired but happy!